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Sunday, August 2, 2015

Big Brother Season 17, Episode 18 Recap

I'm not exactly breaking new ground here by saying that people who watch the feeds see the CBS broadcasts differently than those whose only exposure is via the network showings. For non-feedsters, every show is truly brand new. Most don't read blogs, and have no idea that most of the events happened a few days earlier.
Online viewers, though, know most of what's going to be shown. We watch for the competitions that were blocked from the feeds. We tune in for the diary room commentary. Mostly, though, we watch for the erroneous information. The errors in continuity, storylines created by bad editing, and diary room comments that were clearly fed to the house guests.

Fact it, though, that for the most part a good episode is great for both sides of this viewership...except in the case of an episode such as tonight. While endurance competitions create some of the most enjoyable feed viewing, the following Sunday's episode that features said competition isn't that exciting. Given that we know everything that happened during the two hours of the competition, the first third or so of the broadcast is not really as essential for us to see again as it is for the broadcast-only viewer. (In fact, the only excitement for us will be at the very end.)

Given this fact, I'm going to gloss over most of this portion of the show. I know the order of people dropping. I know that most of them are going to state how important it is for them to win this, along with how hard it was to stay up on the ledge. Most importantly, I've heard and seen the footage of James and Shelli make a deal at the same time that Johnny falls off the ledge.

The only real interesting point of the competition comes at that point. Shelli is heard in the diary room saying, "I feel alright with my deal with James. I do think he's the type of person who will keep his word. This is a deal that was made in front of the entire house, so if he doesn't say true to his word then that's saying a lot about James as a game player." What makes that interesting is that on the feeds, she learns the truth about James' plans right after this moment, and claims that the diary room asking her this question made her feel worried about their deal. (Of course, this clip isn't aired but was heard on last night's Big Brother Gossip Show.) Also interesting is Vanessa saying that Shelli not including her in the deal shows where she is in her alliance's totem pole.

But I'm getting ahead of the storyline here. Everybody is then shown walking into the house, and they see Julia's picture on the memory hall in place of Jace. Liz, though, is freaked out that James is the new HOH, especially since she's "been gunning for him in previosu weeks".

Meg and James celebrate in the bathroom, and as we played last night he says he's going to "rattle the cage". Jackie joins the celebration, and they talk about how shocked they were that Shelli dropped.

Austin and Vanessa now talk. She's upset and paranoid, as usual. "You can only worry about what you can control." The twins are then shown heading into the bedroom to talk about Austin revealing Julia's name. Austin joins them, and Julia bitches at him about this "shady" fact. Ugh, this week's show is AGAIN copying EVERYTHING we aired last night! Wait, Julia just said she wouldn't "trust him with a ten foot pole"??? What does that even mean?

"Poor" Shelli is now feeling sad, and she pulls Vanessa into the Have-not room. She justifies why she made that deal with James, and Vanessa pulls her great passive-aggressive moves on her. She understands why she did what she did, but that's what was best for her. Vanessa says it's either going to be her or the twins that goes this week. "That's the game we signed up for." Clay enters the room, and then Austin comes in to complain about Julia's anger towards him. When he leaves, Clay says they need to get to James to ensure that the twins and Austin go up. "The thing is", replies Shelli, "we're going to lose one of them, (and) it's my fault". Clay tells her to stop thinking that way.

After commercials, we then get some filler material of Shelli and Clay. Why? So much happened this weekend. Why do we get their phony relationship? At least we get to see just how dumb he is.

This is followed by Steve and James filler. Why oh why???

Ok, back to the game (and back to our show's script). James is in the HOH with Meg, Jackie, and the Rat. I mean Becky. They talk about Shelli wanting to cut a deal with a so-called alliance member, and how they're coming after them. "She needs to go. Let's do this." James adds in the diary room that Shelli is definitely his target as she "runs the show". They go through various combinations of nominees, and Meg says that "nobody can know about this".

Unfortunately, the rat was involved in this conversation, and after commercials, but again CBS screws with the timeline. Becky told Clay in the bathroom, but they're jumping ahead a couple of hours to show her verifying the info with both Clay and Shelli in the lounge. Nobody likes a narc, Becky! This makes no sense, as she's telling them to act like they have no idea they know they're going up. Continuity, Big Brother editors! What you're showing makes no sense!!!

Clay and Shelli argue a bit about this. "Why can't I get up and walk around", Shelli complains. Clay says he's "ten times as pissed off". She wnats to get Vanessa for advice, but Clay is not so sure they should.

We now see Vanessa heading into the HOH. She's worried that she's going up, and tells him that the Jason eviction was a "house decision". Ha, what a lie. She babbles on and on, but basically throws out Shelli and Clay's name. "If I wanted one of them to go home, would you be against it", James asks. Of course, she agrees. She says that if she's not put up, she won't him up or a person of his choice until final seven (or something like that). James likes that idea.

The loving couple now head up to the HOH, and Clay reminds Shelli to put on "happy faces". James is reminded of their deal, and they again lie about their role in the Jason situation. "I totally get why that was so upsetting to y'all", says Shelli. Austin is the real devil in last week's plans, says Shelli, but James plays dumb. "I'm just telling them what they want to hear", he says.

In the middle of the night, James can't sleep, so he heads downstairrs to tell Meg that he's just going to put both of them up. "They need to be broken up." Meg says that she thinks "everybody will just keep the noms the same". James is worried that they'll become another "Mack train" like Brendon and Rachel (what?), and he has to make a big move now. (And live feeders cheered.)

It's now the moment of truth. Will James follow through on his plan? As Daniel Bryan's fanbase likes to shout, "YES! YES! YES!!!" He says he nominated Clay and Shelli because "there was a line drawn in the sand last week, and I was blindsided by that as well. Shelli, you stood on that wall, and you beasted that competition, and I know you will go to the end of the season with Clay. I know if I got to take Clay out, I have to take you out as well. As far as our contract we had up there, it's up to my discretion whether that contract is valid and it's not up for appeal."

Shelli reminds him that he did "publicly, in front of the whole house" made that deal, "so everyone in this house can know right now that James is not good for his word". Clay swears in the background, while Shelli goes on that "Clay had nothing to do with Jason going up on the block last week, and anyone that wants to come to us to find out the true story is fair game". Ha! Best nomination ceremony ever!!!

We end with diary room commentary, but it's as expected. Clay struggles with words as he complains about loyalty. "Maybe we're just naive to think that there are people in this house that plays the game like us." Ugh, I hate him so much. James just wants his noms to stay the same, and Vanessa is pissed that Shelli threw her "under the bus" with that reply. Shelli says that they just HAVE to win POV to make it possible for both of them to make it through the week.

So that's it. A somewhat exciting episode, thanks to the fun at the end. What did you think? Are you happy that the phony couple is on the block? Are you mad that James broke his word? Let us know your thoughts!!!

9 comments:

Lol, you guys had it right last night when yall pointed out that James didn't even need to make a deal. He could have gone on for hours more in the HoH comp. There is no reason in Clay and Shelli, just reactionary emotions. Entitled is the word I'd use to describe them. Who do they think they are exactly? Shelli is a 30-something loser who apparently can take off her "job" for 3 months and yet still "needs the jury money." And Clay is a kid who had never watched BB until sequester, yet he's gonna tell us (the fans) how to play Big Brother. What a tool...

I love to read your recaps, Scott, to see if you were left with similar impressions as I had. I laughed and laughed over the "trust him with a ten-foot pole" saying. It's "trust him. . . " get your worn out phrases right! LOL